Name of the Project
Coburn mineral sands project.

Location
The project is located in the midwest of Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Strandline Resources.

Project Description
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) has confirmed the Coburn project as one of the largest and most advanced undeveloped mineral sand projects in the world.

The project has a large ore reserve of 523-million tonnes grading 1.11% total heavy minerals, underpinning an initial mine life of 22.5 years at a planned mining rate of 23.4-million tonnes a year.

The DFS has confirmed Coburn to be a world-class next-generation project in the mineral sands sector. It has also shown that the project can deliver a high-value heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) product or can be refined further to final products (final products case).

The mining study has confirmed a conventional, openpit dry mining operation, where free-dig unconsolidated sand is mined using heavy mobile equipment transporting material to two mobile dozer mining units (DMUs) and a mobile excavator mining unit (EMU). The DMUs prepare the ore for processing and the ore is pumped in a slurry form to the processing plant. The EMU alternates between overburden removal and ore processing during periods of DMU movement.

The DFS has also confirmed an efficient and modern process design capable of producing a high-grade saleable 95% HMC product from the wet concentrator plant and final products through further processing by the mineral separation plant.

The wet concentrator plant design uses multiple stages of high-capacity gravity separation and classification to produce a high-grade HMC.

In the final product case, the HMC will be processed in the mineral separation plant using electrostatic separation, gravity and magnetic fractionation to produce a high-value product suite comprising a premium zircon product (66%), zircon concentrate product (28% and 11% titanium dioxide), HiTi90 product (which combines the rutile and leucoxene minerals to produce a 90% titanium dioxide blend) and a chloride-grade ilmenite product.

The project will produce 34 000 t/y of premium zircon, 54 000 t/y of zircon concentrate and 110 000 t/y of chloride ilmenite and a further 24 000 t/y of rutile.

The project’s mine life could be extended by a further 15 years based on the potential production targets already identified, making Coburn a generational project. 

Significant potential exists to further increase project reserves and mine life through the evaluation and conversion of resources extending north and along strike of the current ore reserves.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The HMC case shows a pretax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of A$481-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 36.4%, with a payback of 2.2 years.

The final products case will have an estimated pretax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of A$551-million and an IRR of 32%. Payback is estimated at 2.3 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project will require development capital of A$207-million for the HMC case. The final products case will require an additional A$50-million, which includes mineral separation plant infrastructure.

Planned Start/End Date
The project has a nominal 18-month design and construction timeframe to achieve first ore to processing facilities.

Latest Developments
Strandline Resources has tipped contractor Macmahon as the preferred contractor for its Coburn mineral sands project.

The two companies have signed an early contractor involvement agreement for early works associated with the contract mining services, and will now work exclusively over the coming months to optimise the mining solution and conclude contract documentation.

The scope of the mining services contract will include ore mining at a rate of 23.4-million tonnes a year, overburden removal, pit backfill and land recontouring, as well as the transfer of concentrate from the wet concentrator plant to the minerals separation plant, and general mining-related earthworks.

The contract is expected to cover the first five years of the project life.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
R Engineering Services, AMC Consultants, IHC Robbins, AECOM and TZMI’s Allied Mineral Laboratories (DFS).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Strandline Resources, tel +61 8 9226 3130 or email enquiries@strandline.com.au.